Pina Colada Cupcakes

Dave had his ukulele group meeting over the weekend (the cupcakes I made one year ago for the groups yearly anniversary were my very first blog post! click here to read that one and see how pretty those cupcakes turned out) and to celebrate another year of the group going strong he asked me to make cupcakes again - actually he asked me to make the coconut cream cupcakes that I made for his birthday again (click here for that post, really they are fantastic!) but I told him that I'd rather experiment with something new. I asked if coconut pineapple would be ok with him - like a pina colada - and he agreed.

Cupcakes:

• yellow cake mix
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup pineapple juice
• 8 oz crushed pineapple, undrained
• 1 teaspoon coconut extract

Mix and bake according to directions on the box.

Frosting:

• 1.5 sticks unsalted butter
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon coconut extract
• 2-3 Tablespoons whipping cream (or as much as needed to get the consistency you want)
• pinch of salt

Beat the butter in a mixing bowl until smooth, slowly add the powdered sugar and other ingredients - using just a little cream at a time until it's right, beat until smooth and fluffy.

I put the frosting in a decorating bag fitted with a round # tip. Pipe the frosting out in a spiral, starting in the middle and going around. For some I rolled the edges in shredded coconut, some I decorated with sprinkles, and some I left plain. Top however many of them you want with a well drained maraschino cherry. So pretty.

Note: Dave said these were a huge hit, once again he didn't bring any home and I always feel like that's a good sign except I didn't get to try one to see how it turned out! He thought they were moist and liked them, except "not as much as the coconut cream" ;). Oh no, I've spoiled him from liking any other cupcake better then those haha!!